Reaching Out

We had an open house at the parsonage last month.  We invited everyone from the parish over for coffee and cookies.  We gave them a tour of the parsonage, we had some football on TV, and we visited about anything and everything.  It was a fun time.

One of the things that gets hard, as we get older, is maintaining contact with people.  That’s especially true when we lose the ability to get out on our own.  I see that in my parents.  Dad still drives, but not very much.  Mom doesn’t drive at all.  So, keeping in contact with people becomes difficult.  They don’t see people very often unless someone comes to visit, and that doesn’t happen nearly as often as they would like.  Maybe it’s the same for you.

There are two things about that.  One is that all of us need to do a better job of visiting people who can’t get out much.  We can always make excuses, but the excuses are usually just that.  And I’m not pointing fingers here.  I need to do a better job of it, too.  It’s something we need to make more of an effort to focus on.

But the other thing is that, if you are someone who can’t get out much, there are ways you can reach out to maintain that contact.  Make some phone calls.  Write some letters.  Or if you don’t think you have enough to say for a letter, send a post card.  If you have a computer, send out some emails.  Use facebook.  If you have a smart phone, send some texts.  Invite people over to see you.

Is that easier to say than to do?  Of course it is.  It’s always easy to tell someone what they should do, especially when, in this case, I’ve never been in that situation.  But the point is that, when we’re in a situation we don’t like much, we need to be proactive.  As I’ve said before, when we’re faced with a situation, we have three choices:  1) accept the situation; 2) change the situation; 3) complain about the situation.  Number three, while it may be temporarily satisfying, doesn’t help in the long run, so we’re really just left with one or two.  We can accept the situation or change it.

And there’s nearly always something we can do to change the situation if we try hard enough.  If you’re someone who can’t get out much, try some of those things I suggested.  If you don’t like those suggestions, think of something else.  If you don’t know who to call, call me.  Or call Wanda.  We’ll be happy to talk to you.

One of our prayer emphases in the parish is for people who are feeling alone.  We’re asking God to help us find ways to reach those people.  If you’re one of them, help us reach you by reaching out to us.